


Thicker And Better

by camichats



Series: Imagine James and Sirius Prompts [157]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alternate Universe - No Voldemort, Body Image, Getting Together, M/M, Marauders Era (Harry Potter)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-18
Updated: 2020-07-18
Packaged: 2021-03-05 07:54:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,890
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25347310
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/camichats/pseuds/camichats
Summary: James's body was changing, but not in the way he wanted. He tried to fix it, but eventually comes to realise that not only doeshelike the way he looks now, but Sirius likes it too.
Relationships: Sirius Black/James Potter
Series: Imagine James and Sirius Prompts [157]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/752925
Comments: 6
Kudos: 93





	Thicker And Better

**Author's Note:**

> For the prompt: “I’m not sure if you got my request or if it got lost but I’m re-sending it anyway! What about James being insecure because of his body changing during adolescence? I mean, maybe getting weight on and being insecure of it, thinking he might not do well on Quidditch, remaining short while everyone is getting roller. Sirius helping him accepting himself? I mean, probably James will keep remaining a show off but Sirius knows best! Thank youuu”

James saw his friends getting taller and thinner. Well alright, maybe not _thinner_ but they were losing the baby fat. Remus didn't quite have the cherub look about him anymore, and Sirius had shot up like a damn beanpole. James figured the same was going to happen to him. He waited patiently. 

And then he waited impatiently. 

And then he figured that nothing good ever came from waiting anyways so he should get a move on if he wanted anything change. It's not like he _hated_ his body, but, well... everybody else was getting taller. More toned. He was just getting bigger. He'd gotten a little taller, of course, but not as much comparatively to how thick he was getting. Bigger. That's the word his parents used. Because it wasn't just growing _up_ that he was doing, it was growing out. 

He didn't want for this to happen. Not to sound like a complete arse, but he had a certain vision for how his life was going to go, and in none of those was he too big to be a chaser. Beaters could be stocky. Keepers, too, but not chasers-- definitely not seekers, but what did he care? He wasn't a bloody seeker. He wanted to play Quidditch professionally, and he wasn't going to let anything get in the way of that. He had to up his training. Clearly just doing practice for Quidditch wasn't enough. He'd have to start working out for normal exercise shite too. It was going to be a pain in the arse, he could already feel it. But, this is what he wanted. The good shite doesn't fall into your lap all the time; you have to work for it sometimes. Sirius and the other Marauders had already fallen into his lap. His parents being bloody awesome had also already been hand delivered. Working to achieve his dream career wasn't ridiculous. He could do this. 

* * *

He could _not_ do this. 

He must be doing something wrong. He'd been on his new regimen for three months, and nothing had happened. He was now on month six, and he'd gotten bigger. Not the normal partly out, partly up kind of bigger. Thicker. He hadn't gotten any taller, but now he was thicker. Not just around the middle, which sort of made him feel good, but he was definitely bigger there too. He hadn't lost any weight; he'd gained it. 

James Potter did not often sulk. It wasn't fun, and it generally put him in a worse mood. Plus, he was usually in a good mood anyways, so there wasn't much he had to sulk about. 

He was letting himself sulk right now. His final year of Hogwarts was starting in _two months_ , and there were going to be Quidditch scouts at their games. If he wanted to get drafted onto a team, he had to play the best he ever had. If he kept getting thicker, how was that going to help how he played? 

And okay, it's not like his games had been going poorly, but he was caught up in thinking about how much better he could be doing. He could be doing so much fucking better; he was sure of it, even if nothing he was trying seemed to be doing the job. Hence, sulking. 

The door to his room opened enough for Sirius to stick his head in-- he kept the rest of his body out, like he wasn't sure if he was welcome. "Hey, mate. You alright?" 

"I'm fine," he said, because he didn't want to unload all of this on Sirius. Talking about it wasn't going to make him feel better anyways. "What's up?" 

"Do you wanna try that again?" Sirius asked, stepping inside. He turned on the light-- peak sulking had to be done without overhead light, and James winced a little at the sudden brightness-- and closed the door behind him. "Because it's the middle of summer. I was downstairs, and you were shut away in your room. Shouldn't we be eating ice cream or summat? Or you can drag me running with you again. It's horrible and makes me want to die, but whatever." 

James frowned. "If you think it's horrible, why did you keep agreeing to go with me?" 

"Because you kept asking, duh." 

James's frown deepened. "That's not a good reason. If you didn't want to go, you should've said-" 

"Honestly? This is what you're getting worked up about?" Sirius interrupted incredulously, raising an eyebrow at him. "Not whatever it is you're upset about?" 

"'m not upset about anything," he muttered. It wasn't his most convincing lie, but Sirius already seemed to know that before he said a word. 

"What're you sulking about, then?" Sirius asked, flopping next to him on the loveseat. 

James thought about denying it again, but he sighed instead. "I'm getting bigger. I won't be able to play Quidditch professionally unless I slim down." 

"Right. Er, how's that?" 

"What d'you mean 'how's that'? I just told you-!" 

"What you just told me was that you can't play pro unless you get smaller, which is a load of hippogriff shite. Have you looked at the best scoring chasers this season? C'mon," Sirius said, getting a hand around James's upper arm and pulling until he got to his feet. He dragged James over to his room, then grabbed a magazine from his bedside table. "Look at this." He flipped the magazine open and turned it to face James more fully. 

It was a spread of Cortez, one of the top chasers for the last three seasons. There was probably an article in the magazine somewhere, but right now all it showed were photographs. He was shirtless, wet in one of them, and grinning while he tossed a quaffle from hand to hand. 

"I'm just saying, you look more like him than-" Sirius shifted to show him the cover that was featuring the Cannon's seeker "-this bloke. Don't worry about it." 

James grabbed the magazine out of his hands, and Sirius let it happen. He flipped through some of the pages. "I guess. I just thought I'd look more like the rest of you, y'know?" 

"I wasn't aware the 'rest of us' had a uniform look." 

"You know what I mean," James said, rolling his eyes. "Besides, Cortez is taller than me. By a lot." 

"So? I wouldn't know what to do with you if you were bigger than me." 

"What've you been trying to do with me? Last time I checked, we throw each other around like we always have," James said. He got to the pages with Cortez, then cocked his head as realisation stirred in the back of his mind. James looked kinda like him. And Sirius had this magazine right next to his bed. And... it opened very easily to this section. "Do you wank to this?" 

Sirius snatched the magazine out of James's hands. "Bugger off," he muttered, face flaming. "D'you feel better?" 

"You do, don't you? Wh- is it just Cortez or like-" James stopped talking when Sirius got to his feet and forcefully shoved the magazine back into the drawer. "I was only taking the piss," James said, teasing smile falling away. 

"Yeah. Got that," Sirius said tightly. He tried for a smile, but it was strained. "I don't really want to talk about it. You good to go have some fun now?" 

"...Yeah." He could ask Sirius about this later when the mood was a little better for it. He didn't want to grab him and kiss him if Sirius was just going to think that he was taking the joke too far. 

* * *

In hindsight, James should have thought it through before he snogged Sirius's face off. But like, all's well that ends well, because Sirius kissed him back. They'd eaten dinner and were messing around, talking about future pranks they could do at Hogwarts and who they thought the Head Boy would be. James's mind wandered back to Sirius's magazine and the thought that he looked kinda like the bloke Sirius thought was attractive. He'd kissed him and not really thought twice about it. 

They'd snogged for a bit then decided to get some sleep and gone their separate ways. Now that they _were_ in their separate ways, James was thinking about it. He hadn't told Sirius that he fancied him. He hadn't told him that he didn't want for this to be a one night event. He should probably mention that. With a sigh, James threw the covers off and went over to Sirius's room. 

Sirius answered the door quickly enough that James knew he hadn't been in bed. "What's up?" 

James stepped inside and closed the door behind him. "Hey." 

"Er, hi?" Sirius said. He walked over and sat on his bed, then looked over at James expectantly. 

James kinda froze up. He hadn't let himself think about it before because if he thought about it too much, he was going to veer into 'creepily staring' territory instead of pining, but Sirius was so buggering _gorgeous_. There were days when he dressed up-- put on makeup and did his hair-- but even when he didn't, he was so pretty that it made him want to cry a little. His hair was a bit of a mess from laying down and running his fingers through it-- and, to be honest, from having _James's_ hands in his hair earlier-- and he was still everything James had ever wanted. 

"James?" Sirius prompted, and James shook himself. 

Right. He'd come here for a reason. A reason other than admiring Sirius, that is. "I want to kiss you," he blurted. 

"Okay?" Sirius said, frowning. "I mean, I figured what with us snogging earlier, but it's rather late, and your parents will totally catch us if they see that we're still up." 

Fuck. That wasn't what he'd meant to say. "Yeah, no, I meant, like, that I want to kiss you all the time." 

"Okay?" Sirius repeated. He was very obviously still confused about what the hell was going on. 

This was exactly what James had been trying to avoid. "Alright, let's start over. Just- forget everything I said." 

"Alright?" 

"Hi Sirius, hope I didn't wake you up; I would like to date you." 

Sirius blinked. Then, "Really? Cause if you're just joking around, I'm going to punch you." 

"Yes, really!" James said, offended. He joked about a lot of things, but never _this_. Some things were sacred-- like how much he wanted to shag his best friend. "What kind of prick do you think I am?" 

"Your own special variety," Sirius said automatically, but he was looking at James with something akin to astonishment. "You... I mean, really James. Me?" 

James frowned. "Why'd you say it like that?" 

"Like what? I was just asking if you were sure." 

"You said it like you couldn't believe I was interested in you." 

"Well." Sirius shifted how he was sitting uncomfortably. "I'm not really your type, am I?" 

"Mate, you are so my type it's almost funny that you don't know it." 

"Oh sure, make fun of your boyfriend." 

"That's a yes, then?" 

Sirius hesitated for a moment before replying. He was probably still waiting for the moment where he was told this was a joke. "Yes. It's- erm, a yes." 

**Author's Note:**

> This is from a prompt driven blog @[imaginejamesandsirius](https://imaginejamesandsirius.tumblr.com) on tumblr. Feel free to drop by!


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